Call for Episcopal Candidates

Call for Episcopal Candidates

11/19/2015

The New York Annual Conference delegation to the General and Jurisdictional conferences has put out an appeal for any elders who are feeling a call to the office of bishop. A new class of bishops will be elected during the 2016 meetings of the Jurisdictional and Central conferences; the number selected is dependent on the needs of each jurisdiction.

Bishops are elected every four years and all ordained elders in The United Methodist Church are eligible for nomination. Most nominations to the episcopacy come from annual conferences or caucus groups affiliated with the UMC.

If you would like to nominate a colleague whom you feel has the gifts and graces for the office of bishop, please speak with that person and encourage them to prayerfully consider whether God is calling them to this position. Candidates should fill out the episcopal nomination form and email it along with their resume to Carolyn Hardin Engelhardt at carolynhardinengelhardt@gmail.com no later than December 31.

The NYAC delegation will then review all submissions and request further information in preparing for interview sessions on Saturday, January 30, 2016, at the conference center in White Plains, N.Y. (Snow date is February 6.)

Following the interviews, the delegation will decide whether to recommend a candidate(s) to the annual conference for endorsement for the episcopal elections, which will take place at the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference from July 11-15 in Lancaster, Penn. While nominations or endorsements of individuals are common, they are not necessary for election.

Those selected as bishops will be assigned to serve a specific episcopal area within the jurisdiction that elected them.